Escaping the Magical World
by Lara Hillins
Summary: After the war Cho Chang cannot cope being around magic any longer and disappears into muggle London. Then she bumps into a muggle policeman who seems to know what her wand is when she drops it.


Cho had spent years trying to get over the pain and destruction she'd endured throughout the war before she finally gave up living in the wizarding world, moving to the muggle world within a week. She gave no warning or way to contact her to any of her family or the friends she'd somehow kept from her school years, not having gained many if any from the moments of work she'd managed to struggle through.

Her family and friends called in the aurors, two days after they'd found any attempt to contact her was failing. There was even a charm stopping owl post from finding her, so Cho was unaware although she had suspicions that Harry Potter, the best detective free from the ministry might get called to help, that he was quickly working through ways he could try to find her, if only to speak about why she wanted to disappear.

It was a week after joining the muggle world that Cho was in the town center of her new home when she ran into a slightly rounded man in police uniform.

"I'm so sorry, sir." she said quickly, moving to pass the man on her way to a clothes store to get more muggle clothing after finding she hadn't got much.

"Wait." The man called. "You dropped this."

As Cho turned around again he was holding out her wand and her purse, not looking questioning at all at the stick he was holding. "Thank you, and the stick doesn't really matter anymore." she replied, taking her purse back.

The man narrowed his eyes, confused by her response seemingly. "I had a cousin who had one of these once and he wouldn't have said anything like that ever. I'm Dudley, would you like to talk about whatever has happened?"

Cho looked surprised at the man before her. He wasn't bad looking, but the knowledge he had didn't seem fitting with his appearance in the muggle town. "Er, that sounds... nice. If you're off duty at least." She added, remembering that policemen didn't usually wear their uniforms off duty.

Dudley smiled. "Just signed off, but I felt like wearing my uniform for a while longer. What's your name?"

"Cho. I do mean it when I say that isn't important anymore. It's just a reminder of something I need to forget." Cho replied, grimancing as she thought about the war. "And should have forgotten long ago, but can't."

Dudley frowned slightly. "Still better not to let it get into the hands of a child who doesn't know they have magic than otherwise. I'll look after it for you since you don't want it." he muttered, quietly enough that nobody could hear.

"Do what you want with it since you know what it is." Cho smiled, feeling happy that she knew someone in the muggle world now who could be spoken to about the wizarding world.

Dudley's phone started ringing then. Looking at the number before he answered it the policeman smiled at Cho before answering. "Hi Harry, what do you need me for?"

Cho stood there waiting and listening to her new friend chatting. "Gone missing and you think she's somewhere here? Harry do you know how big an area that could give me to work with?"

The conversation sounded like it was from one of his work mates.

"Ok so what's her name and I'll see if I can use the files at work to find her." Dudley's face fell into one of shock at the reply he got.

"Would she give it all up do you think?" He asked urgently, worrying Cho as she listened.

"Meet me at our usual coffee shop. I might have information." Dudley ended the phonecall, looking at Cho seriously.

"Is everything all right?" She asked anxiously.

Dudley smiled. "I don't know, but do you still want to get coffee with me? A friend might turn up to ask me about something I'm not sure if I can help with, so I'm warning you now."

"That sounds fine, where are you thinking of going?"

"Just a small place I like to go sometimes." Dudley smiled again, "But I'm sorry for the friend who's meeting us there. He'll just want to talk, I promise you."

Cho bit her lip, not worried, but surprised that someone from the wizarding world had apparently been on the phone to Dudley. "Who is this friend? You called him Harry on the phone."

"My cousin, Harry Potter, apparently asked by your family to help find you. He only occasionally calls, although it is strange he called just after I met you." Dudley explained, watching Cho's reaction as she gasped slightly, paling but mostly calm at the news.

After a moment of silent while they walked and Cho took in the news, she looked at Dudley again and laughed. "Are you the one who teased Harry over having nightmares about the night Cedric died? Saying my ex was Harry's boyfriend?" She asked, remembering a random conversation they'd had the only time Harry had mentioned his relatives.

Dudley frowned before laughing. "Yeah that was me, hang on. Cedric had died then?"

"Yeah, the first casualty of the war so people say. I'd rather not talk about it. Although the fact you teased him about it is just about the only thing he ever told me about you, or any of his family."

Dudley looked uncomfortable and turned to the cafe they were beside by this point. "Here we are. Please don't ask about my childhood with Harry. It's never a good subject for either of us."

Cho nodded, painting on a smile as she walked into the cafe, easily recognising the man who saved the wizarding world.

"Hello Cho. It's been a long time." Harry said, standing up from the table for two he had sat at as Cho walked over, with Dudley following after picking up a third chair. "Hi Big D. You only said you might have information, not her."

Dudley laughed. "Well she was listening is when you called and I have only just met her today."

Cho smiled at them. "Well to answer hopefully the main questions you have Harry, yes I am intending to give up magic completely and live in the muggle world from now on. You know already most likely that I haven't used magic since I left the wizarding world a week ago and your cousin has been very helpful in stopping any I'd have been tempted to do before. There are too many memories of that terrible time of the war for me to stay among that world for any longer. So much pain and destruction. Please don't make me return to everyone and everything who makes me remember Harry." She pleaded, watching the cousins sat at the table with her.

Dudley took her hand under the table, barely thinking about it other than that he needed to support the woman who had run into him just an hour earlier.

"I wasn't going to ask you to go back, or do anything after finding you, Cho. Although, your family will want to know where you are and that you're safe, so I suggest you give me an address. I'll teach them to send letters the muggle way and if you send letters for them to me you can stay in contact that way." Harry explained. "Although Dudley is probably a good choice to help you with the muggle world too."

Dudley laughed. "Yeah, growing up with you probably taught me a few lessons about dealing with the unexpected. hopefully I'm not getting dumped into any snake tanks by Cho though."

"You deserved it then, but Uncle Vernon probably deserved it more." Harry grimaced at the past being brought up. "I'm just glad we get along now. Having a cousin in the muggle police sometimes helps me being a wizarding detective, especially when you just run into the person I've been asked to find."

"And end up looking after her wand." Dudley added, realising that Harry hadn't been told that yet.

Cho jumped in before Harry could say anything else. "I dropped my purse and my wand and refused to take the wand back. Even after he made it obvious he knew what it was."

Harry grinned. "Well I'll go and tell your family that I know where you are and we can meet up in a while for you to decide on what contact you want with your family, because I doubt they'll let you get away with none. Last time I thought that Dudley corrected me with a pretty big shock letter."

As Harry left Cho and Dudley started laughing, Cho in relief that it was Harry that had gotten her case and Dudley over the memory of Harry's shock visit after the letter.


End file.
